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Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council announces new Chair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 30, 2011, St. John’s, NL  The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) is pleased to announce that Tom Gordon has been elected as its new Chair.

Gordon is a professor of music at Memorial University. From 2000 to 2010 he served as the director of the School of Music there. A music historian by training, Gordon remains a pianist at heart and is frequently heard at the piano as an accompanist to singers. His performances have been broadcast by both the French and English networks of CBC in concerts from the “Music at Memorial” (St. John’s) and “Musique chez nous” (Sherbrooke, Québec) recital series. Gordon’s musicological research has focused on early modernism: Stravinsky and on the French avant-garde of the early twentieth century. A more recent research interest has centred on Moravian music in the Inuit communities of coastal Labrador.

Prior to adopting Newfoundland and Labrador as his home, Gordon held teaching and administrative positions at Bishop’s University and the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University). He was for a time, director of Centennial Theatre in Lennoxville Québec and co-founder and artistic director of Sherbrooke’s new music collective, Ensemble Musica Nova.

“Newfoundland and Labrador’s creative vitality is arguably its most important natural resource,” says Gordon. “I look forward to working with artists, communities and government to assure that this wellspring of creativity continues to bring distinction to the province and enrichment to its people.”

Gordon was first appointed to the NLAC as a music representative in 2008.

The co-vice chairs of the NLAC are Derek Norman (film representative) and Randall Maggs (writing representative).

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The NLAC is a non-profit Crown agency created in 1980 by The Arts Council Act. Its mission is to foster and promote the creation and enjoyment of the arts for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The Council is governed by a volunteer board of 13 appointed by government, reflecting regional representation of the province. This includes 10 professional artists who provide sectoral representation of the arts community; one community representative (with an interest in the arts); one business representative (with an interest in the arts); and one representative of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation (non-voting). The NLAC receives an annual grant from the Province to support a variety of granting programs, program delivery, office administration, and communications. It also seeks support from the public and private sector. It supports the following artistic disciplines: dance, film, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing.